At that time he can understand the meaning of the Qur'an...

At that time he can understand the meaning of the Qur'an being a cure for the spiritual ailment, as is confirmed by the noble āyah : “ And we reveal from the Qur'an that which is a healing and a mercy to the believers and it adds only to the perdition of the wrongdoers,” [^8] And the meaning of the saying of Imām 'Alī (' a ): “Learn the Qur'an, for it is the spring [ rabī' ] of the hearts; and seek cure with its light, since it is the cure for the hearts.”[^9] He does not seek from the Qur'an the cure of only the physical ailments, but regards the main aim to be the cure of the spiritual ailments, which is the very objective of the Qur'an.

The Qur'an has not been sent down to cure the physical ailments, although such ailments do get cured by it. The prophets (' a ), too, did not come to cure physical ailments, although they did cure them. As a matter of fact, they were the doctors for the souls, and the curers of the hearts and the spirits. [^1]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 3, p.26, “The Book of Faith and Disbelief”, ch. on “Sincerity,” hadīth 5.

[^2]: Sūrah Hūd 11:56 [^3]: Sūrah an-Nahl 16:44 [^4]: Sūrah al-A'rāf 7:176 [^5]: Sūrah Āl-i 'Imrān 3:190 [^6]: Nūr ath-Thaqalayn, vol. 1, p. 350 (with a slight literal difference). [^7]: Manāzil as-Sā'irīn, section “The Beginnings,” ch. on “Reflection.” [^8]: Sūrah al-Isrā' 17:82. [^9]: Nahj al-Balāghah, sermon 109 (with some change in the wording). Previous…